Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

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May/June 2021

NEW BRUNSWICK LOGGER Marco Caron’s successful business formula VANNATTA BROTHERS LOGGING Innovative logger meets innovative iron NEW SAWMILL INVESTMENTS

by Resolute Forest Products

WITH THIS ISSUE...

ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF INDUSTRY INNOVATION

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FEATURES May/June 2021 Volume 52 • No. 3 Editor Paul MacDonald Contributing Editors Jim Stirling, Tony Kryzanowski George Fullerton Tech Update Editor Tony Kryzanowski

On the Cover: New Brunswick logger Marco Caron knows that business success in harvest contracting depends on basics: a wellmotivated team, keen business skills and good equipment. In that last area, Caron’s harvesting equipment includes two Ponsse Scorpions. In fact, Caron was so impressed with his 2017 Scorpion harvester that he added a second 2018 Scorpion model to his operation.

(Cover photo by George Fullerton).

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4 Spotlight:

Big things are happening at GreenFirst Forest Products—the company has bought six sawmills in Ontario and Quebec from Rayonier. We get the scoop on what’s going on at the company, with an interview with its new CEO—and lumber industry veteran— Rick Doman.

24 Delivering gains at Downie Timber

10 New sawmill

Downie Timber of Revelstoke, B.C., is investing to upgrade its edger line with USNR’s BioVision technology, to deliver the utmost in recovery, with New West Mill Installations as the contractor assigned to deliver the finished product during challenging COVID times.

A look at recent sawmill investments

by Resolute Forest Products, as it works hard to generate more production in super-hot lumber markets.

30 Successful logging

16 Innovative logger

New Brunswick logger Marco Caron’s formula for business success includes family involvement, solid equipment operators, and logging iron that delivers day-in, dayout in the bush.

investments by Resolute Forest Products

meets innovative iron

VanNatta Brothers Logging is seeing solid success with the first Quadco 4400 (QB4400) feller head in North America, which is now manufactured in B.C.

20 New Hampshire

mill gets new Canadian technology

The upgrade of the Milan Lumber sawmill involved a fair bit of Canadian mill equipment, including i-DNA species identification technology from Autolog.

DEPARTMENTS

Calendar.................................................7 Ad Index...............................................44 Suppliernewsline...............................45 Classifieds...........................................45 Subscriptions......................................45

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

formula

36 Tech Update: Dry Kiln Suppliers

We take a look at the new features and technology among Dry Kiln Suppliers in this issue.

42

Included in this edition of The Edge, Canada’s leading publication on research in the forest industry, are stories from the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) and FPInnovations.

46 The Last Word

In spite of the COVID-19 virus, the forest industry is buckling down and—as it always has—is getting the job done, says Jim Stirling.

3

spotlight

The acquisition trail for GreenFirst Forest Products began with its purchase of Kenora Forest Products. The Kenora sawmill is capable of producing between 150 to 200 million board feet of lumber annually.

now a major forest industry player In a very short period of time, GreenFirst Forest Products has become a new major player in Canada’s forest industry—and it couldn’t have picked a better time, in terms of lumber prices.

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

I

t started with a ripple, with the acquisition of bankrupt Ontario-based Kenora Forest Products last fall. It ended with a tidal wave, with the purchase of four sawmills in Ontario and two in Quebec, along with an Ontario newsprint plant, from Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) this spring.

That summarizes—in a nutshell—the transactions over the past six months by a new, publicly-traded, player in the Canadian forest industry: GreenFirst Forest Products (GFFP).

And they may not be finished yet in Canada or elsewhere, as the company’s goal is to become a global forest company capable of producing at least one billion board feet of softwood lumber annually.

Once the RYAM transaction is finalized, GFFP will become a top ten lumber producer in Canada.

A number of individuals are behind this enterprise. led primarily by Rick Doman and Paul Rivett, the former of whom has been involved with the Canadian forest industry for decades.

Doman founded major Eastern Canadian forest products manufacturer EACOM Timber Corporation in 2010, by purchasing the sawmill assets of Domtar Corp. He later sold the company to Kelso & Company in 2013. Prior to that, he was President and The lumber market has taken off to the stratosphere during the COVID-19 pandemic, with lumber futures prices hitting in excess of $1,600 (U.S.) per thousand board feet, which makes the deal GreenFirst Forest Products did with Rayonier Advanced Materials for four sawmills in Ontario and Quebec a very smart move indeed.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

spotlight

CEO of the company founded by his family, Doman Industries, in British Columbia, which is now Western Forest Products.

He was recently named the new CEO at GFFP. “I’ve been in the forest industry since I started my first job in a lumberyard at 12– years-old,” said Doman, in an interview with the Logging and Sawmilling Journal.

“I wanted to buy a set of drums and my Dad told me to get to work and save up to buy them. I never looked back. I enjoy

STACK THE DECK.

the forest industry very much and most of all, I like to be involved in creating jobs, which is very rewarding to me.” His Dad was, of course, the legendary Herb Doman, who founded Doman Industries, and built it into one of the major forest companies in B.C., back in the day.

Rivett was previously a board member at Resolute Forest Products and Abitibi Bowater. He has experience with acquisitions and financing involving both Tembec and EACOM and was President of Fairfax Financial Holdings from 2013 - 2020. He is the new Chairman of the Board at GFFP. Doman says that Michel Lessard, currently Vice-President of Canadian Forestry Operations with RYAM, will become President of GFFP in charge of all operations and report to the CEO. Lessard held a similar position with Tembec before it was purchased by RYAM. Doman’s and Rivett’s acquisition trail began with a group of investors and a company named Itasca. It had capital investment cash available, and at the urging of Rivett, the company made a bid and was successful with its $11.5 million offer to purchase the assets of Kenora Forest Products. A name change to GreenFirst Forest Products quickly followed.

Then they purchased the RYAM sawmills and a newsprint plant for $214 million (U.S.) in April. These essentially are the Tembec sawmills that RYAM acquired when it purchased that company in November 2017. The deal between GFFP and RYAM is expected to close in the second half of 2021. It is a combination of 85 per cent cash and 15 per cent common shares, and it’s anticipated that at the time of closing, RYAM will own about 16.9 per cent of GFFP shares, subject to a six month hold. Senvest Management is providing a significant amount of backstop financing to GFFP to make the purchase.

“GreenFirst is looking forward to extending a warm welcome to RYAM’s employees later this year and to building on RYAM’s established relationships with its lumber and newsprint customers,” says Rivett.

So now GFFP owns operating Ontario sawmills in Chapleau, Cochrane, Hearst and Kapuskasing, Ontario as well as sawmills in Bearn and La Sarre, Quebec.

The newsprint plant is in Kapuskasing.

Kenora operations are currently idled but to page 6

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5

spotlight from page 5 the company intends to restart operations there once it obtains clarification from the Ontario government on the wood resource available for that sawmill. Combining all wood processing facilities, GFFP will employ about 1,500 workers.

“As we have done previously with EACOM on the carve-out of sawmill assets of Domtar, our experienced team looks forward to working with the dedicated employees of RYAM to optimize the sawmill assets with a singular focus on maximizing lumber production,” Doman said in a press release announcing the transaction with RYAM. In 2020, RYAM’s sawmills produced 604 million board feet of lumber, but together have a nameplate capacity of 755 million board feet. With this purchase, GFFP will also have access to 3.29 million cubic metres of guaranteed fibre support for these sawmills. They produce a wide range of lumber products and grades, with a focus on MSR, premium products, and regular dimensional lumber ranging from 2” x 3” to 2” x 10”, consisting of both studs and random length lumber.

6

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

The Kenora sawmill is able to produce between 150 to 200 million board feet of lumber annually.

Winnipeg-based Prendiville Industries operated the Kenora Forest Products sawmill, which has since been rebranded as GreenFirst Forest Products. It operated the sawmill from 1994 onwards, but it was closed from 2008 till 2016. There was a significant amount of government support offered to the previous owners to get the sawmill up and running again and over $22 million was spent to refurbish the mill before it reopened. But it was still not enough for Prendiville Industries to keep the sawmill operating, partly because of the 20 per cent softwood lumber tariff on shipments to the U.S. At the time of bankruptcy filing in December 2019, the company owed $8.8 million to federal and provincial agencies. Since this filing, the softwood lumber tariff has been reduced to about nine per cent for most Canadian producers.

“We felt it was a great opportunity, so we bid on it and we are very pleased we were the successful bidder,” Doman says.

“To build new sawmills is costly, so being able to purchase Kenora at an attractive

spotlight value was very positive for our company.”

The question of log supply is still an issue as to when it will actually reopen.

“We are waiting on the Ontario government to provide us the directed log supply we need from Crown forests,” Doman adds. “The mill, we believe, will operate productively with about 650,000 cubic metres of long-term, sustainable, economical Crown log supply.”

Once that is secured, the new owners are interested in working with private timberland owners in the area to supplement their wood supply and maximize production.

As part of the purchase agreement with RYAM, GreenFirst Forest Products will enter into a 20-year chip supply agreement to continue to support RYAM’s pulp facilities.

The newsprint plant included in this deal has annual production of 205,000 metric tonnes per year.

Doman says that the transaction to purchase the RYAM sawmills was something that GFFP “worked very hard to pursue and conclude,” adding that he has a lot of respect for the company. The fact that lumber prices rose to historical highs in the process of negotiations was not particularly a driving force behind the purchase, but it was not totally unexpected either.

“We had a view that lumber prices would rise due to the impacts from the mountain pine beetle, and housing demographics have also been and continue to be positive in the U.S. and Canada,” Doman says. “We also believe that woodbased construction is positive for the environment, sustainable forests absorb carbon, and also wood-framed housing continues to absorb carbon.”

They recognized that high-rise buildings for both residential and commercial use are starting to be built from wood products, as well.

Another factor working in their favour is ‘a changing cost-curve’ that is favourable to the lumber industry in Ontario and Quebec. Asked to describe this ‘changing cost-curve’, Doman says, “we view Eastern Canada positively due to access to large markets and being closer in freight by truck and rail, in particular, within Eastern Canada, the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, as well as some other markets.”

Once the transaction is complete, the new owners already have intentions to review current operations and spend major capital to improve efficiency and throughput at all their new sawmill properties.

“We intend to increase lumber capacity,” Doman says. “Our message to our employees is our goal is to build a

productive lumber company. We are prepared to spend targeted capital to improve the sawmill assets. The bottom line is that we need to bring cash operating costs down and increase production.”

He says that GFFP plans to spend between $50 million to $60 million over 36 months to improve sawmill operations.

Doman concludes that the goal is to build a global company that is resilient, capable of riding out and continuing to operate in any lumber market.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

7 Publication: Logging Sawmilli

Ontariosawmilling

RESOLUTE Forest Products’

sawmill investments paying off Resolute Forest Products has made some strategic sawmill investments in its Ontario operations that are generating more production in super-hot lumber markets.

Among the many sawmill improvements Resolute Forest Products is making is the installation of a second DO2 lumber wrapper at its Thunder Bay operation.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

Ontariosawmilling

By Tony Kryzanowski

R

esolute Forest Products’ three sawmills in northwestern Ontario are firing on all cylinders—supported by continuous investment over the past few years—just in time to take advantage of current unprecedented high lumber prices.

The company has invested about $250 million in its manufacturing facilities in northwestern Ontario over the last decade.

One of their more recent investments was $5.6 million at the company’s planer mill near Thunder Bay on Fort William First Nation land.

The overall effect of these investments is combined increased production capacity of 50 million board feet annually, and the creation of 25 new jobs. Many of these jobs were created by adding a shift at the planer mill.

Six years ago, they launched a new $62 million sawmill just east of Atikokan, representing a major financial boost to this community, with 90 new jobs. In 2004, the company spent $30 million to completely rebuild the Ignace stud mill, and more recently, they also invested $9 million to build a new wood pellet plant in Thunder Bay. It has a 10-year agreement to supply 45,000 tonnes annually to an OPG power plant west of the city, in Atikokan.

Resolute has also built a biomass co-generation plant in Thunder Bay to provide heat and steam for its pulp and paper processes, electricity for internal use, and exporting electricity to the Ontario power grid. Another investment was made in a TMP-Bio facility in Thunder Bay in partnership with FPInnovations, to develop new ways to efficiently produce innovative and commercial biochemicals from wood.

All told, Resolute provides about 900 jobs through both its production and logging operations in this part of Ontario.

The planer mill project included installation of a replacement for the old unstacking system with a Carbotech double-action unstacker, leading to a new high-speed Gilbert planer, a PLC lug loader, a USNR multi-track fence in advance of the trimmer, and an additional IBC bar coding unit.

Because the Carbotech unstacker is a double unstacking system, both sides are in constant motion so that there is regular to page 12

Resolute Forest Products recently spent $5.6 million to upgrade their planer mill in Thunder Bay with a new Gilbert high speed planer, PLC lug loader and USNR multi-track fence (above photo). Comact supplied a new machine stress-rated unit on the planer mill line in Thunder Bay (top photo). The new bar coding unit on the Resolute planer line in Thunder Bay was provided by IBC bar coding (below).

Ontariosawmilling from page 11 flow of lumber to the planer mill. While one side is unloading to feed the planer, the other side is loading the next bundle and preparing to feed the planer once the first load is empty. Deploying this unstacking system means that Resolute can achieve maximum production through its new high-speed planer.

Maxime Langlais, Vice President responsible for Resolute’s Ontario, Abitibi, and Outaouais sawmills, says this investment in the Thunder Bay planer mill has increased throughput by about 10 per cent from a maximum production of about 200 boards per minute to 216 boards per minute.

“The goal of the project was to improve our planer mill capacity to be able to take more production from the Thunder Bay sawmill and also to dress some lumber from the Ignace sawmill,” he says.

It was an important strategic investment because prior to making this capital investment, he says that the sawmill was forced to slow production or take downtime so that the planer mill could catch up. Essentially all of the capital investment in the Thunder Bay planer mill was made to accommodate the high-speed planer, leading to improved overall production.

The planer mill is also equipped with a Comact GradExpert computerized lumber grading system. Resolute installed a new Comact machine-stress rated (MSR) unit as part of the planer mill project. It is currently spending another $1 million to install a second DO2 lumber wrapper in Thunder Bay. The DO2 RapidWrapper is said to be

industry leading technology in the automatic wrapping of wood products. The DO2 team offers fully integrated outfeed solutions according to customer needs, with each wrapper project fitting a mill’s specific production. The latest installation in Thunder Bay is the company’s fifth machine with Resolute Forest Products.

A side note: the team at Resolute’s Thunder Bay sawmill celebrated an important milestone last July 16, when the

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

With its investment in its planer mill in Thunder Bay, Resolute has increased its throughput by about 10 per cent, from 200 to 216 boards per minute on average. mill shipped its four billionth board foot of construction-grade lumber.

Turning to the pellet plant, Resolute has invested about $800,000 in a shavings recycling system. The shavings are collected in a silo at the dry kilns and a blower, cyclone and screw system propels them over to the pellet plant. They are to page 14

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Ontariosawmilling from page 12

The planer mill investment in Thunder Bay created about 25 new jobs because they were able to add a shift at the planer. Throughput from the sawmill is also more efficient as its production is now in line with what the planer mill can process.

metered into the sawdust prior to pulverizing to ensure a proper mix.

“Now we are able to place more shavings within the sawdust to produce pellets,” says Langlais.

The Thunder Bay sawmill produces lumber in dimensions from 1” x 3” to 2” x 6” in lengths from 6’ to 10’. Annual production capacity is about 310 million board feet. The Sapawe sawmill near Atikokan produces mainly 2” x 3” to 2” x 6” in 8’ to 16’ lengths with 150 million board feet annual production. The stud mill in Ignace restarted in February and is expected to be back in full production by August on two shifts. It shut down temporarily in 2019 because of poor market conditions and issues with the sawmill’s dry kiln structure. Once fully ramped up, annual production will be 85 million board feet. It also provides 65 jobs to the community.

Depending on markets, between 50 to 75 per cent of production is exported to the United States with the remainder in Canada.

Resolute invested $1.7 million this year to resolve the dry kiln issue in Ignace. So they are able to dry lumber at that location

but it is transported to Atitkokan or Thunder Bay for planing. Langlais says they can maximize value from the lumber produced at the Ignace sawmill with this approach.

He adds that Resolute has a consistent capital investment program for improvements to all its sawmills. For example, in 2020, they installed what he called a USNR ‘cut-in-two’ system after the trimmer at their Atikokan planer mill. This allows them to cut a 16’ board into two 8’ boards to capture more value.

By co-ordinating production to some extent between the three sawmills, Resolute is able to log its wood basket efficiently to ensure that the right size log goes to the right mill. For example, 16’ logs measuring 5” diameter or more are channeled to the Atikokan sawmill while 10’ logs as small as 2.7” diameter at the top are transported to Thunder Bay because that will produce 2” x 3” boards.

It also accepts tree length logs to support their pulp mill. Being a stud mill, Ignace processes 9’ logs.

Where logs are transported also depends on the log haul distance, but generally logging contractors sort logs in the bush for use at a specific sawmill.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

equipmentprofile

INNOVATIVE LOGGER innovative iron

MEETS

VanNatta Brothers Logging are seeing solid success with the first Quadco 4400 (QB4400) feller head in North America, which is now manufactured in B.C.

By Jan Jackson

K

Jeff VanNatta (above) inspecting the company’s Quadco 4400 feller head. The privately-owned VanNatta Brothers Tree Farm, a 1500-acre mixed rotation operation, was said to be a perfect match for the head, and they had a big enough machine to put it on.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

C VanNatta of VanNatta Brothers Logging didn’t see the Quadco 4400 feller head on display at the February 2020 Oregon Logging Conference in Eugene, Oregon. However, his brother Robert did.

When Robert told him how the head would let a single operator cut and control the placement of up to 48-inch trees and then load them on the truck, KC headed for the Internet to find out how he could get one. Eight months later, VanNatta’s crew was operating what was then the first and only feller head of its kind in North America.

The Quadco 4400 (QB4400) was invented by New Zealander Paul Rosin to harvest the fast growing but brittle and limby Radiata pine. Quadco saw the need for it in North America and

equipmentprofile about two years ago, they bought the patent, tweaked the design and started production.

Kirk Luoto, Northwest Forestry Specialist Territory Manager for Modern Machine’s Portland, Oregon, office, facilitated the sale to VanNatta Brothers Logging.

“I’ve known KC for many years and wasn’t surprised that he would be interested in adding the QB4400 to his operation,” Kirk said. “As a private landowner, his 1500-acre mixed rotation operation was a perfect match, and he had a big enough machine to put it on. Because the 4400 comes with a maximum sock that can do a 50 or 55-inch bar, it will handle a big tree. One of the beauties of it is that a logger can take his old equipment and make it ready for the 21st century—and that’s what KC did.

“I was there three or four different times talking to him about the machine, talking about the head, and making sure we got the right measurements so we could get the correct adapter Quadco was custom making for it,” added Kirk. “We had some challenges mounting it up to his machine because of all of the electronics involved, but we were prepared for it and

made it work. My main job, however, was making the calls that kept KC connected with the people at Quadco and connecting all the other dots together so things could go as smoothly as possible.

“KC has done some pretty amazing things out there already. It was so amazing to watch him work. He knows exactly what he wants to do, understands what’s best for his property and is very well set up to do it.”

The VanNatta Brothers Tree Farm, located near Rainier, Oregon, was developed on property George VanNatta bought and moved his family to in 1940.

“My dad, who was a lawyer, and his building contractor friend, had two things on their mind when they bought the land on which we still operate,” says KC. “They wanted to get their families out of St. Helens before the war broke out, and they wanted to follow their dream of starting a cattle ranch.

“The land they found was covered with willows, maples, snags and black stumps from a previous forest fire and defective Douglas fir that the Deer Island Logging Company had rejected,” added KC. “Dad ended up buying his partner out and going it alone and we ended up developing

the property as a tree farm/logging operation. I still run a few cattle in the trees, just to keep the grass down.”

KC continued: “My interest in the QB4400 is that I can harvest and load both the big timber for the domestic market, the smaller eight to 19-inch stuff for export and do it all with my three-man crew. Before, to do the same things, I had to bring in two tree fallers at $700 a day. An additional savings is that because you can control the way the tree falls, we don’t get the damage we had before with the other felling methods. All of those things add up.”

And there is now some big wood.

“Some of these big Douglas firs were head-high when Dad moved me here as a five-year-old.”

Son Jeff is running the machine and it’s been a steep learning curve for him. “He’s finding out it’s all between the operator and the tree and you have to get everything right.”

Jeff VanNatta, who was born and raised on the family tree farm, has been the sole operator to date. Armed with a degree in

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

17

to page 18

equipmentprofile KC VanNatta of VanNatta Brothers Logging sees solid benefits to the Quadco 4400 feller head. “My interest in the QB4400 is that I can harvest and load both the big timber for the domestic market, the smaller eight to 19-inch stuff for export and do it all with my three-man crew,” he says.

“Before, to do the same things, I had to bring in two fallers at $700 a day.”

Industrial Safety and Health from Oregon State University and seven years of night school courses in nuclear machining, he is the most experienced at running their Cat 330-BFB forest machine.

“I was used to running feller bunchers and bar saws, but I had never run a bar saw on a feller buncher before,” says Jeff.

“After a couple of days and a couple of bent bars I started to get the feel of when to stop cutting on the tree and the big question is, just when to stop.

“It is easy to operate,” he says. “You can let go of the trigger and the bar will come back and then pull the trigger again and it’ll go back in and cut some more.

You can sneak up on it that way, but you can also cut too much at one time and then you have an issue. You can see the tree start to move, but you may still have four inches of wood left. If you don’t get it cut down to maybe an inch-and-a-half or so, it’s going to split up the side of the tree. It’s one that everybody has to figure out.”

Jeff adds: “On the smaller trees, upwards pressure before sawing causes

the tree to turn off-stump. On the larger trees, you watch the sawdust for the color of the bark. But it’s falling trees over 36 inches where the QB4400’s 270-inch saw rotation really shines. This means you can place the head against the right side of the tree, swing the saw all the way out, cut the face and then move the head to the back side and fall it.

“We have the Jewell feller buncher package on our machine and now with the 9,000-pound QB4400, it probably weighs 110,000-pounds,” says Jeff. “The point is, you want it on a big machine, and you want it on a shovel-front or a feller buncher boom assembly that’s designed for this activity and not on a machine with the 45-foot boom.

“The operations manual hadn’t been written yet and there wasn’t anyone around that had ever run one, so I bent the bar on the very first tree I fell,” says Jeff. “Now I carry an extra bar and lots of extra chains so I can change them in the woods. My advice is to have spare bars and extra chains and maybe a fifty-ton press for straightening bars.”

Joel Doupe, Northwest sales rep for Quadco, is optimistic about the future for

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

from page 17

Quadco’s new feller heads.

“We had a lot of interest in the QB4400 at the conference and then COVID came along and threw water on everybody’s fire,” says Joel. “The beauty of this product is you have basically a controlled fall head so you can lay the tree where you want it.

“With a regular felling head, you’ve got to be pointed the correct direction and then once you cut that tree off the stump it’s going, its falling. It’s free falling and it crashes to the ground. This machine places it on the ground. It’s just a great multi-purpose tool.

“The QB4400, manufactured in Kamloops, B.C., takes Quadco about a week to assemble from the time it’s a piece of metal until final assembly,” adds Joel.

“They are assembling them now, so I expect to see some at our facility. We are also working on a 3500 and a 2500, so we will have a small, medium and large.”

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millupgrade

New Hampshire mill gets new Canadian technology The upgrade of the Milan Lumber sawmill involved a fair bit of Canadian mill equipment, including i-DNA species identification technology from Autolog.

By George Fullerton

S

et on the headwaters of the Androscoggin River in Milan, in northern New Hampshire, the Milan Lumber Company sawmill became part of the Carrier Group of businesses in 2008. At that time, in the deepest economic downturn in recent history, many in the forest industry were not making investments— but Richard Carrier saw an opportunity.

“The owners of the Milan sawmill were not making any money and they just wanted out of the business,” says Richard.

“When we bought the mill, it was producing between 180,000 and 190,000 board feet per day. We immediately began to make some changes in the way the equipment functioned and flowed.

“We took some equipment out and replaced it—and we currently have daily production running at 340,000 to 390,000 board feet a day,” he explained.

Annual production increased from 36 million board feet in 2007 to 80 million board feet in 2020.

Carrier announced early in 2021 that the mill was ready to invest some $12 million in upgrades to the planer and kiln side, further enhancing the productivity of the milling operation. This marks the third part of a three phase upgrade program to the mill, which firmly places Milan as the most advanced sawmill in New Hampshire.

Richard Carrier, one of 13 children born on a dairy farm at St. Honore, in neighbouring Quebec, has been involved in the forest industry for decades. After a short career in the residential building trades working throughout the New England states, he bought a log truck and set up a log trucking business in Jackman, Maine. Through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, the business added trucks and a Barko 160 mobile log loader.

In the late 1980s, the business head-

The Milan Lumber sawmill became part of the Maine-based Carrier Group of businesses in 2008. The Carrier Group took some equipment out and replaced it— including with some Canadian-manufactured mill equipment. Annual production has since increased, from 36 million board feet in 2007 to 80 million board feet in 2020.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

quarters moved to Skowhegan, Maine, which provided a more central location to serve forestry trucking throughout the state. Headquarters included dedicated offices and a maintenance garage.

There have been a number of business moves that took the Carrier Group to where it is today.

In 1989, Richard and business partner Ross D’Elia took the opportunity to purchase the HHP Hardwood sawmill and pallet manufacturing plant in Henniker, New Hampshire, which provided increased work for his trucks. In 2017, D’Elia sold his share of the company to Richard’s brother, Marco, and Marco’s son Joseph.

The mill produces 13 million board feet annually and includes six, 60,000 board foot kilns. The lumber is marketed across North America, and as far away as China.

Log supply is from the northeast United States. In 2020, the mill added four kilns with capacity of 240,000 board feet.

millupgrade Since 1989, HHP has invested $20 million in its manufacturing facilities. This has enabled the mill to increase productivity and stay at the forefront of the industry.

The investments included a new 6’ double-cut McDonough band saw, they automated the band resaw with a booth and Autolog PLC controls, an automated lumber tally, grading and trimming system with Autolog controls, Cypress grade mark reader and PHL equipment, a 60-bay bin sorter and a new log debarking line with a Nicholson A-6 debarker.

In 1991, Richard, together with his eldest brother Jack, won a contract to supply chips to Boise Cascade, and built their RJ Chipping plant in Shelburne, New Hampshire.

“The paper mill was having issues with their wood room and they needed chips from outside to meet their production demands,” explained Richard.

In 1994, the brothers expanded the chipping enterprise and added Farmington Chipping in Farmington, Maine, to supply chips under a contract with the New Page Corporation paper mill. The expanded operation is able to produce 40 to 50 truckloads of chips per day.

In 2006/2007, Carrier bought chipping plants in Milo, Maine and Costigan, Maine. During the same period, Carrier bought P. R. Russell Mulching in Richmond, Maine and built another mulching

The Carrier Group announced early in 2021 that the mill was ready to invest some $12 million in upgrades to the planer and kiln side, further enhancing the productivity of the milling operation. operation in Brentwood, New Hampshire.

Together, Marco and Richard operate four chipping plants in the northeast U.S. By 2001, Carrier was also concentrating round wood in the Farmington yard, and delivering to a variety mills on demand.

Subsequently, in 2018, Carrier purchased the Multibois FL hardwood sawmill in St. Augustine-de-Woburn, Quebec, which produces 10 million board feet per year with a wood supply mix of Canadian and U.S. timber. Carrier purchased dry kilns (240,000 FBM) nearby in St. Georges-de-Beauce, which allows them to market kiln dried lumber.

Another investment (2020) was the Saint-Isidore sawmill which utilizes hemlock, red pine and white pine, producing 20 million board feet annually. Production is in dimensional lumber as well as timbers.

In addition to investments in sawmilling and chip production, Jack and Richard own and harvest wood from more than 80,000 aces of woodland.

Currently, Carrier operates some three hundred trucks, in six separate companies, working in Canada and United States. In addition to hauling roundwood, wood chips, mulch, lumber and pallets, they also have dry box trailers to serve a diverse customer portfolio.

As mentioned, the Carrier Group purchased Milan Lumber in Milan, New Hampshire in 2008. The mill was formerly owned by Paul Vallee Lumber, and was

producing 36 million board feet of spruce and balsam fir lumber annually.

The mill’s log supply includes timber from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, upstate New York, as well as Canada.

Lumber markets for the mill are concentrated in the eastern U.S. The 45,000 square foot mill is situated on a 45-acre site, with a log yard with capacity to hold 12 million board feet of round logs, about a three-month supply.

Wood is purchased in treelength, and cut-to-length logs. Wood is typically mass scaled, although some suppliers require stick scale logs. In addition to deliveries direct from forest operations, wood is also delivered from 12 concentration yards in the region.

Logs are off-loaded in the yard by three Hood loaders which pull yard trailers to supply the log deck. Treelength slashing is handled by two Pro Pac mobile slashers.

Steve Halle, Milan mill manager, explained that they like to unload logs from trucks directly on to the infeed deck, when possible, in order to minimize log handling.

One of the early upgrades after the Carrier Group bought the mill was to extend the log deck from 20 feet to 60 feet, which ensures a continuous flow of logs feeding the mill.

Logs entering the mill flow through a

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

21

to page 22

millupgrade from page 21 metal detector, and are directed to either an 18-inch or 30-inch Forano debarker, depending on their size. Debarked logs are subsequently sorted into three bins according to size. Sawing batches of logs from individual bins reduces the necessity to require a wide variance in setting the PHL twin saw.

Logs are scanned by an Autolog system which manages the set of the PHL canter twin–band saw. The cants flow through a recently upgraded infeed to a Comact wiggle box which has skew capacity and chipping heads. The log breakdown line handles eighteen to nineteen logs per minute.

Edging and trimming is handled by PHL equipment.

The Milan mill was sawing 45 million board feet per year when Carrier purchased the mill. Changes were made to the milling process, including to conveyors and lug speed, which helped achieve the 80 million board feet production level in 2020.

The Milan mill uses Autolog technology to separate species of sawn lumber, and sorts it into a 105-bin sorter. It’s necessary to sort spruce, balsam fir and Norway spruce since each species has its own unique drying schedule.

In 2019, the Phase I upgrades to the Milan operation included enclosing the planer mill and new planer infeed. Phase II in 2020 saw a new Gilbert planer, new drop tables, planer infeed, tilt hoist, auto ProGrader and auto stacker. The first upgrades also included some new scanning technologies in the sawmill.

In spring 2021, Phase III upgrades included i-DNA species identification technology by Autolog.

The technology, developed initially in

partnership with FPInnovations, uses near infrared spectroscopy. The technology will allow Milan Lumber to realize greater value recovery in their milling operation. i-DNA will reduce costs compared to manual species classification and improve their drying productivity.

In sawmill installations, i-DNA has provided a species recognition rate of 97 per cent, regardless of species distribution entering the mill. The impressive results are a result of Autolog’s decision to modify i-DNA’s underlying decision algorithm to take advantage of the latest advances in Deep Learning. In 2021, Autolog is pushing the i-DNA technology even further, by adding colour vision sensor imaging into the system’s artificial intelligence decision pipeline, with the goal to increase accuracy to 99 per cent.

Milan Lumber will be the first mill in the U.S. to operate the i-DNA technology.

Additional upgrades in 2021 in the planer mill include new outfeed tables, trim saws, auto stacker, lumber press, 45bin sorter and an auto wrapper provided

by Quebec-based Piché equipment.

The new Piché (drop saw) trim saws, will allow long lumber to be cut into either two or three sections, to increase grade and value.

At the conclusion of Phase III, the planer mill will have the production capacity to produce 100 million board feet per year.

The Milan mill currently operates with two MEC and two USNR kilns, each with 160,000 board feet capacity. Phase III will add a SII kiln with 122,000 board feet capacity.

Sawdust, trim blocks and shavings from the Milan mill burn in a biomass boiler, providing 400 horsepower of steam energy. The kilns’ energy demand is supplemented by a 400 horsepower propane-fired boiler. Through most of the

winter, both boilers are required to meet the energy demand.

More than a decade after the Carrier Group purchased the Milan sawmill, Richard Carrier continues to take great interest in overseeing the operation. “Richard visits all his operations, and he knows what’s going on in each individual site,” commented mill manager Steve Halle. Halle shared that Richard is very knowledgeable about equipment and production, and is very astute when discussing equipment and production metrics in the Milan mill.

“He really does his homework and he has connections in the industry that keep him up to date on current and emerging technology. Richard really keeps his finger on the pulse of his operations.”

And there’s more improvements to come. Phase III will also include the installation of a second set of truck scales.

“The new scales will provide us with inbound and outbound scales. Currently with just one scale there are bottlenecks which slows overall productivity,” explained Halle.

The scale hours and yard workshift is 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sawmill operates fourand-a-half days per week, and the planer mill works four days. The Milan operation has 64 employees.

Richard Carrier embraces strong family values and has business investments with several of his brothers and their children.

Richard and his wife Nicole have four children, three of whom are working in the family businesses. Daughters Isabel and Natasha both work in his business headquarters at Skowhegan. His son Jimmy handles purchasing and oversees maintenance of the massive fleet of mill yard equipment and trucks and trailers from the Skowhegan headquarters. Their third daughter Sandra owns and manages a restaurant in Jackman, Maine.

Further improvements are to come for the Milan Lumber sawmill. An additional phase of upgrades will include the installation of a second set of truck scales. The new scales will provide the mill with inbound and outbound scales. Currently with just one scale, there are bottlenecks which affect overall productivity.

22

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

BCsawmilling

Delivering gains at

DOWNIE TIMBER

Over the past year, and in the midst of a pandemic, Downie Timber made a decisive move and opted to upgrade its edger line with USNR’s BioVision technology.

B.C.’s Downie Timber has upgraded its edger line to deliver gains in recovery, and it was all done successfully despite the challenge of carrying on construction during COVID-19 times.

By Paul MacDonald awmill upgrades are really investments that keep delivering returns.

During hot lumber markets (like this year, with spot lumber prices at one point hitting an extraordinary $1,680 U.S. per thousand board feet), the payback time for mill upgrades can be short, since they can deliver substantial increases in revenue—and profits—quickly.

But even when the high demand for lumber subsides, upgrades help to keep a sawmill operation efficient, sustain-

able and profitable. And it’s important to remember that while lumber is hot as a pistol right now, prices were pretty mediocre as recently as 2019—and even early 2020.

Forest company the Gorman Group has a history of steadily investing in its operations in the B.C. Interior. Through the years, the company has expanded beyond its high value, high production board operation in West Kelowna, and now includes plywood producer Canoe Forest Products and lumber operation Downie Timber. Over its more than 70-

24

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

S

year history, the company, which is still family-owned, has invested significantly in its operations, most recently in Downie Timber.

Revelstoke, B.C.-based Downie Timber is a diverse operation that produce multispecies wood products. The company, which employs approximately 300 at its sawmill and value added wood processing plant, Selkirk Specialty Products, is the major wood manufacturer in the area.

Over the past year, and in the midst of a pandemic, Downie Timber made a decisive move and opted to upgrade

BCsawmilling Learning Technology to improve recovery and increase uptime. The edger line utilizes the MillTrak lumber flow management system to maximize material flow to the edger. They also did an upgrade to the planer optimizer.

USNR said Downie Timber’s edger line will add to the over 110 systems installed globally that are applying USNR’s visionbased grade optimization, with many now benefiting with the Deep Learning Technology platform.

Angus Woodman, Manager of Operations at Downie Timber, and Mike Holland, Maintenance Manager, explained that the investments were primarily about extracting higher value products from the timber that is now being processed at the mill.

Being primarily a cedar producer, they are already seeing good prices—and any incremental value they can add to that by going up the value chain can pay off with solid returns to the bottom line.

“It always make sense to get more value out of the wood resource. But the value difference with cedar is high—that means you can make small changes that can have a big impact on value and revenue,” says

Woodman. As noted, the payback can be quick, and the improvements made continue to deliver.

The vision scanning has allowed Downie to up its game in terms of achieving higher value. USNR’s BioVision makes value decisions driven by the accurate detection of biological and geometric defects using a combination of laser profile and visual defect scanning, combined with state-of-the-art optimization. The vision detection has been an especially good fit with the cedar that they work with at Downie. Holland notes that while there are many SPF mills that utilize vision detection, there are few that are using it that work with cedar.

UNR applies the term “Deep Learning Technology” to its equipment approach.

“Overall though, what you call it might be Deep Learning Technology or Artificial Intelligence,” says Holland. “You train the system by defects and classify them—and you don’t have to necessarily train it with thousands of boards. There is a small range of discrepancies and features that it to page 26

NO ONE KNOWS

its edger line with USNR’s BioVision technology.

At its two-line sawmill, the company processes mostly western red cedar, and also Douglas fir, spruce, and hemlock.

Its high-value products demand exacting technology solutions to ensure the utmost in recovery—and Downie was looking to go even further with recovery.

The company’s goal with the edger line investment was to improve grade recovery, edging accuracy, and production throughput. The new USNR equipment starts downstream from the existing unscrambler, with a new backlog table, flitch loader, scanner transfer, tipple drop out, and Model 625 edger positioning infeed.

A new scan frame was fitted with 22 BioLuma 2900LVG vision sensors. The new optimization platform uses USNR’s Deep

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BCsawmilling from page 25 needs to identify. It helps to identify them, and move products up in value.”

The improvements that have been made in technology in recent years are impressive, he added, especially with cedar and the colour variations it can have.

This most recent upgrade helps to automate the critical lumber grading decisions.

In fact, although the upgrade has delivered good results in the current hot lumber markets, Woodman and Holland note the project was considered for a couple of years. Illustrating the Gorman Group’s intent to invest in its operations steadily, the upgrade was planned and approved in 2019—pre-pandemic.

Prior to the project, company staff, like quality control person Patrick Kennedy, did a lot of legwork with USNR at its office in Salmon Arm, down the Trans-Canada Highway from the Downie mill. They talked extensively about the upgrade, and what they wanted to achieve with it, before moving ahead. Downie is very familiar with USNR—most of the optimizing equipment in the mill is from USNR. Capital improvements at the Gorman Group go through a review process. “We put our ideas forward every year on what we would like to do, and it goes through a ranking system,” explains Woodman. “So much money is allocated to each division, and we slot in our projects.”

The Gorman Group is known for being solid operators, and they look for value in the investments they make—but the company does not shy away from making significant investments.

“They are very forward thinking—added to that, we know what we are good at as a company and with our operations,” says Holland. “If there is anything that we can improve, they are open to employing the latest technology.”

Woodman and Holland were able to make a good case for the edger project.

And the company committed to doing the project in the fall of 2019, in pre-COVID times.

“In hindsight, it turned out to be a great decision, in terms of timing,” says Holland, with the subsequent rise in lumber prices. “We’re pretty happy that we were able to get the project approved.”

But like all sawmill operations that have done work lately, there were some extra protocols for crew scheduling and safety related items, such as PPE equipment.

Holland noted that Downie carefully planned the upgrade, factoring in all the extra COVID precautions.

26

In terms of bringing in new equipment for the Downie Timber upgrade, everything had to be craned in or flown in through a hole in the roof—sometimes at night.

There was about four hours of flying time to get all the heavy pieces into the mill through a very narrow opening in the roof.

“We really started three months ahead of the main part of the project, and a lot of the work was done ahead of time. We started out early, with a small crew on the electrical side, for example.” Due to the new regulations, work crews were smaller—workers were in some tight quarters.

They budgeted a shutdown of two weeks to do the upgrade—and they were hopeful that would be enough time.

R

“With COVID, we weren’t really sure how long the upgrade would take because the work crews were somewhat split, and we had reduced manning. It was tough, but in the end it turned out we had a day-and-a half left to do some testing on equipment,” says Woodman. to page 28

Downie seeks to get more value out of fibre

evelstoke, in southeastern British Columbia between the Selkirk and Monashee Mountain Ranges, has a climate that is said to be perfect for the growth of Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir, and is well known for its high-quality fibre.

And Revelstoke-based Downie Timber wants to get more value out of that wood. Essentially, Downie, like all forward thinking forest companies, wants to make better use of the forest resource that it harvests through the tenures it has in the region.

B.C. has seen big cuts in harvesting volumes in recent years due to the impacts of forest fires, and the lingering impact of the mountain pine beetle.

It makes sense to focus improvements on value, rather than volume, says Angus Woodman, Manager of

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

Operations at Downie Timber. “It would be hard to move ahead with a project that is based on increased production because the increased wood supply is simply not there,” he says. “We know that any mill upgrade has to be proven on a recovery or value basis, with an eye also on reducing costs.”

Downie Timber operates two Forest Licenses north of Revelstoke, which supplies roughly 30 per cent of the volume being sent to the mill. Additional timber is secured from other forest companies such as Canoe Forest Products, Louisiana Pacific-Malakwa/Golden, Tolko Industries and the BC Timber Sales Program. In addition Downie has a minority ownership in the Revelstoke Community Forest Corp which is also a supplier of logs to the facility.

BCsawmilling from page 26 Helping the schedule out was the fact that there was a weekend included.

And a scheduled shutdown was necessary to do this kind of project, says Woodman. “The equipment installation was taking place right at the heart of the sawmill, so a shutdown was required.” This was one of the trickier parts of the project.

“Equipment-wise, everything had to be craned in or flown in through a hole in the roof. There was about four hours of flying time to get all the heavy pieces into the mill through a very narrow opening in the roof.”

Normally, a mill upgrade project has a lot of moving parts—but this is especially true of projects taken on during COVID. Fortunately, Downie had a solid construction partner with contractor, New West Industries. They knew the people at New West well—and the employees at New West know the Downie mill well.

Holland estimates that of the people New West had on site, 95 per cent of them had done work at the mill previously.

“We have a really good relationship with New West Industries,” says Holland.

“We’ve used them before, they know the mill and are very professional—we know they have the ability to get the job done. They came in with all the right tools and staffing, and with all the protocols in place—they did an amazing job for us.”

Downie had daily project meetings with the New West folks, reviewing what would be done each day. It took a bit of time for the project to get some traction, which is hardly surprising considering the COVID situation. “That said, Trevor Newfield and Kris Redekop from New West were on it, and knew the timelines.

Things took longer due to COVID, but in the end, it all worked out.”

Each mill upgrade project ideally involves successfully joining the efforts of mill staff, equipment suppliers, and contractors. When you look at the Downie project, there was a lot for each party to chew off, with limited timelines, new equipment and technology—and a pandemic, to boot. “But we all worked together—without that, I don’t think the project would have been as successful,” says Woodman.

Other contractors also contributed to the success of the project, including Canyon Industrial Electrical Services Ltd, Western Integrated Electrical Ltd., and Pel Engineering.

As with any major project, Holland says, there have been some challenges, 28

such as getting different technologies within the mill to talk with each other.

But, overall, they are happy with the results. They have expectations in terms of what the project needs to deliver in terms of extracting more value—and it’s doing exactly that. “It’s working out quite well.”

Woodman and Holland had a bit of advice for any mills doing upgrade projects during COVID. They said that adding an extra 15 per cent to the project budget, and some extra days, if you can get them, are smart and realistic actions to take. “Your work crews have to be smaller, and you have to account for that—you can’t have as many people in tight spots, even if they are all masked up,” says Woodman.

With the upgrade project now complete, everyone involved now takes pride in a job well done—at least briefly. Woodman jokingly says they took about 30 seconds to celebrate the achievements.

“With these hot lumber markets, it’s been very busy.

“These markets are certainly welcome and it’s great to have them, and we’re enjoying the ride for sure. But we know that there is going to be a downturn, at some point. The rainy days, market-wise, are going to come.”

When that does happen, he notes, the improvements they have made at Downie Timber will continue to deliver—and they will continue to get more value out of the wood resource.

Prior to the project, Downie Timber staff talked extensively with equipment supplier USNR about the upgrade, and what they wanted to achieve with it, before moving ahead. Downie Timber is very familiar with USNR—most of the optimizing equipment in the mill is from USNR.

History of mill improvements at Downie

A

s noted in the main story, the Gorman Group has always taken a strong focus on efficiency and recovery in its operations, including Downie Timber.

Past projects at Downie have included an upgrade to its unscrambler and infeed system, for its Optimil gang saw. The Optimil DLI small log line also saw an addition, with a step feeder and increased storage capacity on the infeed to keep up with the mill’s log consumption.

The stacker also saw its infeed,

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

unscrambler and fork system replaced/ upgraded resulting in a lighter touch to the lumber with the unscrambler; overall the changes have minimized the stacker as a constraint and contributed to new production highs. Mill-Tech and Iron Code Engineering worked on the stacker.

In terms of kiln capacity, Downie Timber currently has nine kilns. They have eight Custom Dry kilns–side loaders and one Aerodyne. The controls for the Aerodyne kiln have been upgraded, with Wellons Canada.

contractorprofile

Successful

logging formula

New Brunswick contractor Marco Caron (right) with ALPA Equipment rep Danny Bouchard. As part of an equipment upgrade in 2015, Marco went to the ALPA Equipment shop in Edmundston and made a deal on a new Ponsse Scorpion, the first one to land in the Atlantic provinces.

New Brunswick logger Marco Caron’s formula for business success includes family involvement, solid equipment operators, and logging iron that delivers day-in, day-out in the bush.

By George Fullerton

M

arco Caron knows that business success in harvest contracting depends on basics: a well motivated team, good equipment and keen business skills.

Marco has developed a highly talented team of harvester operators, and includes himself on regular equipment shifts, harvesting for Acadian Timber in northwest New Brunswick. His harvesting equipment consists of two Ponsse Scorpions, along with a John Deere 770.

Marco has adopted a unique business arrangement with his uncle, Yves Caron, to supply forwarding service to the operation. Yves owns a sixteen tonne Ponsse Buffalo forwarder and a John Deere 1510

30

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

forwarder. Yves manages his own equipment and his team of operators, and forwards wood harvested by Marco on a per tonne basis.

Marco has been impressed with his 2017 Scorpion harvester, to the point that he added a second 2018 model to his operation.

Marco began operating forestry equipment at 16, forwarding wood for his father, Fernand, operating a Landini tractor pulling a loader-equipped forestry trailer.

Marco later climbed into the cab of his father’s Enviro harvester, and worked it on commercial thinning operations for J.D. Irving. In 1999, Marco purchased the to page 32

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contractorprofile from page 30 Enviro and a forwarder, and began his contracting career. In 2001, he added two additional Enviro harvesters to his operation, which also included some work on private woodlots around Edmundston, in northwestern New Brunswick.

Marco added a John Deere 770 to the harvesting team in 2013, and continued to do a good deal of partial cuts and commercial thinning.

Marco made the business decision to move to Acadian Timber in 2015, and wanted to upgrade his gear. He went to the ALPA Equipment shop in Edmundston and made a deal on a new Ponsse Scorpion, the first one to land in the Atlantic provinces. To round out the harvest team, he added a new eight-wheel Ponsse Fox harvester.

The Scorpion proved to be an exceptionally productive machine, and in 2017, Marco traded the machine in for a new 2017 Scorpion King.

“Operator visibility in the Scorpion is

exceptional,” says Marco. “That visibility allows the operators to see the terrain and the trees they are handling, and that’s directly reflected in the production we achieve.

“The Scorpion is also very smooth for traveling, and stable for handling both felling and processing trees,” he added.

“That also helps reduce operator fatigue and helps with our production.”

ALPA Equipment sales rep Danny Bouchard explained that the exceptional traveling and processing stability characteristics of the Scorpion come from the double bogie/three frame design of the machine. The Scorpion’s active stabilization system monitors the relationship between the terrain and the machine, and adjusts the chassis to keep the centre frame and cab level.

The active stabilization system also monitors the position of the crane, and uses the mass of the rear frame (which includes the engine), to balance the machine as it cuts and processes trees.

The exceptional operator visibility is

Marco Caron’s harvesting equipment includes two Ponsse Scorpions. Marco was so impressed with his 2017 Scorpion harvester that he added a second 2018 model to his operation.

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

a result of the arched main boom design which mounts to the base of the cab, and provides unrestricted operator views of the work site forward, as well as to the sides.

Operators sit in the middle of the cab which rotates with the boom and, as a result, the operator is always looking directly ahead at the harvesting head. The swing momentum of the cab is muted, which also compliments the operator’s comfort, and minimizes fatigue.

Based on his experience with the Scorpion King harvester, Marco made a decision in 2018 to add a second Scorpion King to his operation.

While the two Scorpion Kings are similar in design, they do differ in the engine department. While the 2017 model sports a Tier 3 Mercedes-Benz engine rated at 275 horsepower, the 2018 model came with a Tier 4 Mercedes engine rated at 286 horsepower.

Marco commented that there is no discernible power difference between the two machines, and fuel efficiency is also very close. He explained that the Tier 4 requires DEF fluid, which is only a small chore added to the daily service check.

The Tier 4 technology provides a cleaner running engine, which results in a much cleaner environmental footprint.

Another difference between the two Scorpion Kings is the processing heads.

While the 2017 model was delivered with an H7 head, the 2018 model ended up with an H6 head.

“The Scorpion Kings have become very popular in our territory and when Marco said that he was looking for another machine, we had to look for one, and we located it in western Canada,” explained ALPA’s Danny Bouchard. “The machine was designated for processing at roadside, and it had a head specifically spec’ed for big wood.

“Marco wanted the H7, which he was convinced worked best in the type of harvesting he does. However, we did not have an H7 head immediately available, but we did have a H6 head at our Edmundston shop. We convinced Marco to try the H6, with the understanding we would switch it for an H7, when we received it.”

Bouchard explained that the H6 has a shorter frame than the H7, and it provides an advantage when processing crooked stems.

“After some time with the H6, Marco came to like it and decided to keep it on

to page 34

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contractorprofile from page 32

Marco Caron has adopted a unique business arrangement with his uncle, Yves Caron, to supply forwarding services to the operation.

Yves owns a sixteen-tonne Ponsse Buffalo King forwarder and a John Deere 1510. He manages his own equipment and his team of operators, and forwards wood harvested by Marco on a per tonne basis.

the harvester. While the H7 and the H6 are both high production heads that work well for thinning, the H6 shows its advantage with processing crooked and rougher stems, so it allows Marco to assign the machines to stand types where it performs most productively,” explained Danny.

Marco is happy with the performance of his Scorpions, and also delighted with his team of operators who hit production targets, and are dedicated to maintenance.

Contractor success depends greatly on finding and keeping high quality operator talent, he notes.

Through his own experience as an operator, Marco realizes the value of providing work schedules that offer positive benefits to an operator’s well being and home life. Marco’s shift schedule allows all his operators the opportunity to enjoy daylight hours both off-shift and operating on-shift.

Having part of the day off allows operators to participate in important family activities or to schedule personal appointments.

The early operating shift begins at 4 a.m. and concludes at 2 p.m., and the late shift starts at 2 p.m. and finishes up at 1 a.m. The shift schedule provides both teams of operators a share of daylight hours at work and at home. Work shifts are done Friday at noon.

Marco regularly schedules himself as one of the harvester operators on his team.

He said it serves somewhat as a morale incentive, since all the operators see him at work, dealing with the same day to day challenges that every operator deals with.

He added that working as an operator provides him with hands-on experience with the harvesters, and on the performance limits of the machines. It also keeps him up to date on maintenance routines, and any mechanical issues that have the potential to become major problems.

Working on the crew and being present at shift change keeps him in close contact with his operators and aware of challenges and other issues they experience.

Additionally, being on the harvest operation allows for timely contact and one-on-one communication with Acadian Timber personnel.

Being a regular operator also puts Marco in a good position to help train new operators and help them through the ‘on boarding’ processes.

Marco likes to recruit experienced forwarder operators to train them for harvester operators. He said they have

experience with the work schedule, understand how to maneuver machines through the forest, know tree species and product spec’s and the importance of product separation, and preparing timber piles so forwarders can operate efficiently.

Danny Bouchard added that Marco also takes advantage of ALPA Equipment’s Ponsse training simulator which familiarizes trainees with function control for the head, before they embark on harvesting on the job.

Each of the two Scorpion Kings produce 150 to 250 cubic metres per shift, depending on the operator and the timber where they are operating. Marco’s annual production is around 50,000 cubic metres. Harvest operations are around 75 per cent clearcut and 25 per cent partial cuts and commercial thinning.

Each harvester operator is responsible for doing a quality check during their shift, which includes checks on log lengths and diameters.

Acadian Timber foresters flag out harvest block perimeters as well as flagging wet land and water courses, along with any special zones or hazards in a block.

Acadian also downloads harvest block maps in the Scorpion Kings, which helps ensure operators cover the entire block.

34

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

While having a team of well motivated operators is key to business success, Marco also realizes the requirement for inspired and excellent business administration. The bulk of the administrative duties are very ably carried out by his wife, Janick.

Marco’s father Fernand, well into his mid-70s, had been working night shift on the operation, operating Yves Caron’s 2012 Buffalo King forwarder. Typically, the Buffalo King and the John Deere 1510 can handle the production of the two Scorpion King harvesters—but if production is up, forwarder shifts are added to meet production. In summer 2020, Yves traded the Buffalo King for a brand new Buffalo forwarder.

Also that summer, Fernand Caron decided to try out ‘official’ retirement.

ALPA rep Danny Bouchard explained that Fern did okay at retirement for only a couple months, and then he went to Marco and declared: “That is enough! Put your old John Deere 770 harvester and the John Deere 810 forwarder on private woodlots, and I will operate them.”

Danny added that Fern is now much happier, enjoying a somewhat more relaxed work/retirement schedule.

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Chicoutimi 800-323-1724 Laval 800-363-6789 St-Augustin 800-463-2662 Trois-Rivieres 855-840-0828 Val d’Or 800-561-4192

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TECHUPDATE

Dry Kiln Suppliers USNR

USNR’s new UniFlow kiln is a continuous kiln advancement that achieves further increases in throughput.

The system uses the same automated approach to lumber drying as the Counter-Flow kiln but lumber tracks move in the same direction instead of opposite directions.

“The two systems are similar,” says Lee Smith, Engineering Manager at USNR. “But the main heating chamber in the UniFlow was moved from the middle to the ends. It’s a reconfiguration of components to achieve higher throughput using an existing heat source.”

In the Counter-Flow kiln, lumber is loaded at opposite ends onto a cart with a hydraulic pusher system that indexes through the kiln at specified rates based on ambient temperature, moisture content, and desired throughput.

The UniFlow kiln uses the same pusher system, except both tracks are loaded at the same end. Instead of having the hydraulics on either side of the kiln running opposite each other, both pushers are on the same side of the kiln, indexed together moving in the same direction.

“We are seeing impressive push rates, gaining two more feet per hour with 20 degrees less heat,” says Chad Smith, Senior Account Manager, USNR. The first two installations have exceeded customer expectations, beating the extrapolated target production rate by five mmbf per year.

There is no loss of lumber quality with the UniFlow kiln. The continuous process produces lumber with less stress and the kiln’s equalizing chamber allows the moisture content of the wood to equalize, achieving a low standard deviation comparable to the Counter-Flow kiln. www.usnr.com

Wellons

As a leading supplier of lumber drying technology for over 40 years, Wellons Canada says that it continues to provide the most effective lumber drying technology available. The company describes itself as the leading supplier of continuous dry kilns (CDK) in Canada and can provide full, turnkey CDK installation.

With its expertise, Wellons Canada guarantees it will meet or exceed its customers’ expectations.

Offering both greenfield and batch kiln conversion options, Wellons says its CDK drying technology provides significant 36

By Tony Kryzanowski

advantages over traditional batch kilns including: providing production guarantees that are always met or exceeded; increased annual drying production; up to 30 per cent thermal energy recovery; improved grade recovery; lower standard deviation on target moisture content; optimal utilization with the kiln always 100 per cent full of lumber; and, more consistent lumber feed through the planer. www.wellons.ca

KDS Windsor

In business since 1992, KDS Windsor specializes in the design, manufacturing and installation of batch and continuous lumber drying kilns, wood waste heat plants and material handling systems.

Offering equipment for both hardwood and softwood markets, the company’s product lines use quality materials and innovative designs providing the ultimate, ruggedly-built drying, heating and handling systems, it says. KDS Windsor says that its advanced DrySpec family of electrical controls and DryTrack in-kiln moisture measurement system give its clients the most precise, automatic and trouble-free drying systems in the lumber industry.

With over 25 years of expertise in satisfying clients’ drying needs, the company says that it is a leader in lumber drying. www.kdskilns.com

DelTech

DelTech is a primary manufacturer of continuous and batch kilns as well as biomassfueled energy systems.

The company says that their innovative designs are always triggered by client requirements.

In response to safety issues concerning kiln carts, DelTech designed an innovative automatic attachment system compatible with all types of loaders. The operator no longer needs to get out of his vehicle to connect the carts together. Thanks to their pivoting hooks, the kiln carts connect and disconnect easily, and minimize the time required for bundle loading. The efficiency and reliability of this system has been proven and it ensures a high level of safety since it is easy to use, durable, and performs very well, says the company.

DelTech’s field teams offer high quality installation, commissioning, and maintenance services for the profitability of client operations. More information is available through BID Group sales representatives. www.bidgroup.ca/deltech/

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

techupdate EBI

EBI says it has been producing a top quality brand of high-temperature, totally-enclosed, dry kiln duty motors of durability and longterm reliability since 1995.

From 1 to 30 hp, 900, 1200 and 1800 rpm, EBI motors are used by batch lumber dry kiln manufacturers and sawmills in North and South America, Europe and Australia. EBI dry kiln duty motors are available through a North American distributor network for quick availability. They are built in NEMA or IEC frames for North American or European batch dry kiln users and they are covered by a warranty of up to three years.

EBI kiln motors are rated at 120 degrees C. (248 degrees F.) ambient temperature. They come with regreasable or sealed bearings, and with custom-length connection wires depending on each customer preference. EBI says it builds a sturdy high temperature kiln motor made in Canada and they are built to save maintenance time. www.ebielectric.com

American Wood Dryers

American Wood Dryers has been producing quality, efficient

dry kilns for the lumber industry for over 30 years with installations throughout the world.

They supply everything from package kilns for smaller volumes of hardwoods to large-volume, high throughput, conifer kilns such as hightemperature batch track or continuous track kilns.

Kiln structures are aluminum or steel. Enclosures are Alclad aluminum or type 304 stainless steel for some hardwoods.

American’s prefabricated panel system reduces installation time and maintenance costs, says the company. Continuous kilns use a combination of steel and aluminum to optimize performance and cost.

Heat systems include hot water, steam, hot oil, and natural gas or biomass-direct fired.

Fan systems are either direct drive kiln duty motors or standard motors mounted external of the kiln chamber. Variable frequency drives can be supplied to reduce electrical cost and optimize drying schedules.

Drystar PC-based proprietary control systems or PLC systems are based on customer preference. www.drykilns.com to page 38

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

37

techupdate from page 37

Eberl

Eberl is a German-based kiln manufacturer that has been manufacturing high efficiency vacuum kilns and specialty container-type kilns since 1999. The company now has over 550 installations worldwide, drying a variety of high value wood products including dimension stock, live edge slabs and large dimension timbers. This technology is now available in Canada.

Steaming certain hardwoods for color control can also be conducted with the vacuum kilns. The container kilns are primarily designed for drying thinner stock material, heat treating pallets and lumber, and drying firewood.

One innovation that has developed strong interest is the Eberl V-Premium, high efficiency, heat pump vacuum kiln. The energy saving heat pump V-Premium vacuum kiln is said to be wellsuited for clients with no or limited on site thermal capacity such as steam or hot water.

All Eberl vacuum kilns accept standard stickered lumber packs. Kiln capacities can range from 1500 to 30,000 board feet. www.eberl-trocknunsanlagen.de

Finna

The benefits of adding Finna Sensors’ KilnScout-Wired to a dry kiln are both increased throughput and improved quality, says the company.

From a throughput perspective, by optimizing kiln drying times, operators can run more charges through existing assets, thus improving productivity by an average of 10 per cent. This has been proven with many species at hundreds of installs.

The improved quality results from a lower standard deviation of moisture content because mills are able to more consistently shut down at a target point. Over the course of many kiln charges, more consistent shutdowns mean a tighter standard deviation at the planer. By increasing throughput and improving the standard deviation, a typical plant will realize a six-month payback on investment in normal economic times, according to the company. If the price of lumber is higher than normal, this will rapidly reduce the payback time frame. finnasensors.com/lumber

PMPWEDRY changes that, says the company.

PMPWEDRY enables tracing of wood packages back to drying operations according to what they yield at the planer mill.

This empowers kiln owners to improve the quality of drying, maximize throughput, and increase the value of their product mix.

PMPWEDRY also offers an easy-to-understand view of drying distribution according to dimensions, lengths, and location in charges. This makes improving drying rules and recipes, and then scheduling, while optimizing charges, possible.

PMP Solutions describes itself as a leader in software solutions for the wood transformation industry. It develops systems that aggregate and contextualize data from multiple sources in the supply chain and then presents it in ways that users from all levels can leverage to enhance operational control and performance. www.pmpsolutions.ca

Wood-Mizer

Wood-Mizer offers dehumidification and solar kiln kits with capacities ranging from 300 to 35,000 board feet for drying lumber.

Kiln drying lumber is a simple, cost-effective method recommended for anyone who wants to increase profits by selling dried lumber. Kiln-dried wood typically sells for a third more than green lumber and eliminates the need for customers to incur costs associated with drying lumber before use.

The Wood-Mizer KD series of kilns feature 100 per cent corrosion resistant aluminum cabinets and specially-coated dehumidification coils to ensure quality, controlled lumber drying performance and an extra-long life. The KS solar kiln is a simple and economical system for starting to kiln dry lumber. www.woodmizer.ca

Muelhboeck

Through its patented Heat Recovery and Industry 4.0-ready drying control systems, Muelhboeck says that its dryers guarantee the highest quality drying at lower thermal and electric energy

PMP Solutions

PMP Solutions says that drying wood is a complex process driven by availability, the product mix in kilns, and demand. Without the appropriate measurements, planning, and recipes, the results at the planer mill may not be what lumber producers expect.

38

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

to page 40

techupdate from page 38 usage. These systems can be implemented on a customer’s full line of products, including their Progressive Continuous kilns and sawdust/chip wood belt dryers.

One of Muelhboeck’s latest innovations is the Progressive kiln FLOW. This unidirectional continuous dry kiln ensures simple and fast loading and unloading while the automatic transport system with buffer zones can eliminate night shift forklift operation. By combining these features with the drying quality of its conventional batch kilns, the Muelhboeck Progressive FLOW fills in the logistic gap and increases productivity.

With the first-of-its-kind green energy biomass project well underway, the Meadow Lake Tribal Council in Saskatchewan has already decided on this most modern kiln drying technology. It will be installed this summer. www.muehlboeck.com

Valutec

Valutec is the only company offering TC continuous kilns, it says This is a kiln type that comes with distinguishing features such as low energy consumption, high flexibility and superior capacity.

Annual capacity can reach 125 mmbf with target moisture content down to around 12 to 18 per cent.

TC kilns are equipped with Valutec’s control system, Valmatics 4.0, which has an integrated simulator that enables simultaneous optimization of capacity, quality, and energy consumption.

Valutec says that its TC kiln has quickly become a favourite among sawmills around the world. Eighteen months ago, Valutec installed North America’s first TC kilns at Pleasant Rivers’ sawmills in Dover and Moose River, in Maine. This fall, Valutec will commission TC kilns at J. D. Irving’s Grand Lake Timber location in Canada and Hampton Lumber Company’s location in Warrenton, Oregon. www.valutec.ca

Wagner Meters

Proven for over 50 years in hundreds of mills worldwide, Wagner’s moisture measurement systems and moisture analysis software have provided solutions to minimize wet claims and maximize profits.

Providing critical moisture quality control data, mills can also rely on these valuable tools to alleviate product degrade due to over-drying. Using state of the art electromagnetic wave technology, the MC4000 includes recent innovations for in-kiln moisture measurement.

40

The MC4000 Advanced In-Kiln Moisture Measurement System enables the kiln operator to monitor the moisture content (MC) of each charge and develop consistent drying time schedules for improved kiln performance and reduced operating costs. www.wagnermeters.com

SechoirMEC

MEC Dry Kiln offers almost 30 years of wood drying expertise to its customers, consisting of companies from all areas of the wood industry. It is a Canadian field-proven leader, innovative in the design, manufacture, installation, and repair of wood drying equipment, says the company.

The MEC team is constantly improving and adjusting its solutions to best serve the lumber market as well as the environment. It now offers a 100 per cent electric dry kiln.

Electric dry kiln technology allows for a reduction in air evacuation and therefore significant heat loss through a dry calorific ratio that does not require an oxidizer. Only moisture from the wood is purged. The power can be modulated instantly and controlled precisely, while keeping the temperature evenly distributed.

Electricity is a clean resource for the environment that allows 100 per cent of the energy produced by the heat element to be applied to the drying process. www.sechoirmec.com

Lignomat

Value, support, quality and connection are said to be the building blocks of Lignomat’s over 40 years of success. The connection-through-technology aspect is prominent with Lignomat’s MP32 control platform.

Lignomat believes improvement and potential savings starts with data.

One or more MP32’s interface with customers’ data collection and analysis infrastructure using a built-in API. Single and multi-facility drying operations using, or in the hunt, to integrate data analysis tools stand to benefit from Lignomat’s MP32 Kiln Control System platform.

Kiln control systems will text and email individuals with kiln specific and condition-specific updates. Whether a kiln charge is complete or there is another event during the charge cycle, the MP32 reaches out immediately so that the correct person knows as soon as it does. www.lignomat.com

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

THE

ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF INDUSTRY INNOVATION

Robotic Research and FPInnovations partner to develop resource road truck platooning technology

Joint efforts will provide Level 4 Autonomy for natural resource sector roads

R

obotic Research, LLC (rr.ai), a global leader in Automated Driving Systems (ADS), and FPInnovations, a Canadian private non-profit research and development center, announced on May 12 their collaboration to develop an offroad truck platooning system for the forest industry.

This partnership will combine Robotic Research’s proven expertise as a global leader in self-driving technology with FPInnovations’ knowledge in forestry and transportation to adapt the truck platooning technology to offhighway environments.

The multi-year project aims at accelerating the adoption of off-road automated-vehicle (AV) technology to improve safety and address an acute labour shortage, thereby improving the quality and viability of rural jobs where natural resources are located. Looking to the future, a successful project would not only benefit Canada’s forest industry, but other Canadian sectors such as mining and natural resources in northern Canada.

Robotic Research, with a history of other groundbreaking projects, including the development of the Xcelsior AV—North America’s first automated heavy-duty transit bus—announced with New Flyer this year, will create unmanned convoys of Class 8, ADSenabled trucks that follow a driver in a lead vehicle. The project will adapt existing technology to challenging Canadian conditions such as four-season weather and operations on off-pavement roads, particularly for resource roads in continental and polar climates.

“We are extremely proud to have been selected by FPInnovations and believe this project is a transformative

42

model of how ADS can aid industries, like forestry, operating in perilous conditions or facing workforce shortages.” said Alberto Lacaze, President, Robotic Research. “The unmanned truck convoys work in concert with commercial drivers to enhance their efficiency, while also protecting their safety.”

In Phase I, truck convoys will be put through safety trials that mimic the routes from harvesting sites to sawmills. Once the system is proven to be secure, FPInnovations will run trials on actual resource roads, known to be challenging because of dust, sharp

curves, and steep slopes.

“We are very pleased to partner with Robotic Research whose leading-edge expertise in the commercial on-road and defense transportation will greatly benefit Canada’s natural resource sectors and help address an acute labor shortage,” stated Stéphane Renou, President and CEO, FPInnovations.

For more information about this project, please contact Jonathan Lethbridge at jonathan.lethbridge@ fpinnovations.ca

ABOUT ROBOTIC RESEARCH Robotic Research is U.S.-based, global leader in localization, autonomy, and robotic technology transforming the way we move. Founded in 2002, the company has been a trusted technology partner to the public and private sector for nearly 20 years. From people to platforms, at home or overseas, Robotic Research is driven to make the way you move smarter, safer, and more efficient. To learn more about Robotic Research, visit www.rr.ai.

ABOUT FPINNOVATIONS FPInnovations is a private not-for-profit research and development centre with professional researchers who create solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector’s global competitiveness. It is ideally positioned to perform state-of-the-art research, develop advanced technologies, and deliver innovative solutions to complex problems for every area of the sector’s value chain, from forest operations to consumer and industrial products. Its R&D laboratories are located in Quebec City, Montreal, and Vancouver, and it has technology-transfer offices across Canada. To learn more about FPInnovations, visit web.fpinnovations.ca.

Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

Indigenous enterprises adopt CWFCdeveloped fast-growing tree technology

BY TONY KRYZANOWSKI

P

rivate enterprise and specifically Indigenous companies and communities have begun the timely uptake of technologies developed by the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) and Canadian Forest Service branches of Natural Resources Canada to establish plantations featuring fast-growing hybrid poplar and select aspen clones.

Their business endeavors are taking advantage of the federal government’s ‘Growing Canada’s Forests’ program. It aims to plant an additional two billion trees over 10 years as part of a broader approach to nature-based climate solutions.

The technology developed by CWFC, described as high-yield afforestation or planting fast-growing trees on non-traditional lands, has undergone the full scientific rigors of site mapping for best clonal selection, development of optimum plantation designs for high performance and survival, best-practice planting methods, vegetation control timing and methodologies, harvesting options, and data collection for public consumption and technology transfer.

The goals of this CWFC research and demonstration program over the past two decades has been to create natural options for carbon sequestration and to develop alternate fibre sources to benefit both the forest and energy sectors.

Derek Sidders, Program Manager, Technology and Development and Transfer at CWFC, says that CWFC’s technology has been embraced by a large partnership of Alberta First Nations to implement this technology in a way that will deliver multiple benefits.

The name of the enterprise is First Indigenous Biomass Future Inc. It goes by the name of FIND Biomass. Melissa Minks is President and CEO and a member of Alberta’s Swan River First Nation while company COO is Albert Klyne. He is a member of the Métis community in Kinuso, Alberta.

Over the past five years, FIND Biomass has applied for and received funding under the federal government’s

FIND Biomass staff prepare hybrid poplar cuttings prior to cool storage. The cuttings can be used to establish stool beds or to establish a fast-growing tree plantation.

Indigenous Forestry Initiative (IFI).

This support program aims to develop forestry-related activity that could contribute to Canada’s economy and environment, while also providing stability to First Nations communities by providing jobs and training in diverse and valuable skill sets.

FIND Biomass used its funds to learn about and implement fast-growing tree plantation vegetative propagation techniques with guidance provided by the CWFC Technology and Development Group. They worked in close collaboration with CWFC to identify proper plant material and to organize the timely harvesting of one-year old dormant vegetative cuttings. These were then processed in controlled conditions and stored for the establishment of field plantations.

Over the past year, FIND Biomass in collaboration with the Swan River First Nation community located on the south side of Slave Lake, Alberta, has used the several hundred thousand cuttings that they have collected to establish nursery/stool beds on a First Nation member’s land.

“They have also developed and trained several supervisors and field staff to assist with the maintenance and management of the nursery,” says Sidders.

In speculation of opportunities with several energy and other First Nations communities, Sidders adds that FIND Biomass has produced, packaged, and created suitable storage facilities for 150,000 plants which are available to Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

establish large-scale, fast-growing, tree plantations this spring.

“This will potentially establish them as a community and industry supplier for services related to fast-growing, high-yield afforestation plantations,” says Sidders.

Preliminary plantation establishment is planned for the Prairie provinces and primarily in central Alberta where the vegetative cuttings of the hybrid poplar clones being used by FIND Biomass are scientifically-proven as suitable. There are partnership lands available for this afforestation endeavor.

Minks says that the biggest attraction to embracing this fast-growing tree plantation technology is the opportunity to help out and work with Indigenous communities. It offers such benefits as employment and training for multiple careers paths in silviculture and the environment.

“There is a real push for First Nations to become more involved in the forestry industry, and to have this technology available, that will really spearhead that involvement,” she says.

Klyne says what FIND Biomass really appreciates is the fast-growing aspect of the CWFC technology where they will be able to see the results of their endeavor for carbon sequestration and wood fibre production over a fairly short time frame.

Minks adds that federal government support, both the funding and mentoring offered by CWFC, has been critical for managing some of the risk in rolling out this new technology.

“The support from Derek and CWFC has been amazing,” she says.

“We definitely would not have been able to do it without their assistance,” Klyne adds. “Their expertise was invaluable because there was so much to learn to successfully move toward establishing these plantations.”

For more information about CWFC’s fast-growing tree technology, contact Derek Sidders at derek.sidders@ canada.ca.

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SUPPLIERNEWSLINE Eacom sawmills to install new kilns

Eacom has invested $16.6 million to equip its Elk Lake, Ontario and Matagami, Quebec sawmills with new, state-of-the art, continuous dry kilns (CDK).

Both are expected to be fully operational by early fall. The Elk Lake dry kiln was supplied by Wellons and the Matagami dry kiln was supplied by DelTech.

Eacom says that the CDKs will allow for continuous drying of lumber as well as reduced production bottlenecks and energy consumption.

In Elk Lake, the new CDK will eliminate the use of both diesel fuel and propane, which is currently being used as part of the energy mix for heating the buildings on site and two kilns. Going forward, all building heat and the new CDK will be exclusively powered by direct-fired natural gas.

In Matagami, the new CDK install will allow the sawmill to dry lumber 24 hours a day, without interruption, directly at the facility.

Since 2016, Eacom has invested nearly $100 million across its nine facilities to maintain and upgrade equipment. Between the two sawmills, Eacom employs 220 workers directly and another 450 in support operations. www.eacom.ca

growth continuing to accelerate steadily.

The newly announced hiring initiative will see the company’s workforce grow by 30 per cent overall with the largest individual gains occurring in the company’s Regina, Saskatoon, and Hudson, Ilinois locations.

Half of these hires will occur in the company’s Saskatchewan locations with 40 per cent more spread out across Canada and the balance in the U.S. The new hires will bolster Brandt’s existing operations in industries from construction, forestry, and agriculture to rail, mining, and steel. The positions will include skilled trades, sales, finance, marketing, customer support, IT, and more as the company expands its support team to meet the needs of a rapidly growing customer base.

Interested applicants can view a current listing of the company’s career opportunities and apply online at www. brandtjobs.com.

The Brandt Group of Companies includes Brandt Tractor Ltd., the world’s largest privately-owned John Deere Construction & Forestry equipment dealer. www.brandt.ca

Founders of Hultdins, Olofsfors, and Rototilt North America retiring

Brandt to create 1,000+ new jobs

The Brandt Group of Companies has announced plans to make a major investment in staffing and will hire more than 1,000 new employees by the end of 2021.

The new positions will span the Regina-based company’s 100+ location international network, focusing on roles in Canada and the U.S. “There’s no question that our people are the foundation of our success. In spite of some challenging times for the global economy, an incredible team effort has enabled us to sustain our business and weather the storm successfully,” says Shaun Semple, Brandt Group of Companies CEO. “Looking ahead, the growth trend for Brandt is strong, so the timing is ideal to make a major investment in our team,” added Semple.

In the past 10 years, Brandt has expanded their employee base by 140 per cent to more than 3,400, with the pace of

After 28 years of representing worldleading Swedish companies in the forest and construction industries, Gerry Mallory and Rick Gordon have decided to retire.

Hultdins Inc. was established in 1993, and also represented Indexator Rotators from the beginning. Olofsfors Tracks were the next Swedish product to be represented in 1995, followed by Rototilt Tiltrotators in 1999.

In 2008, Mallory Gordon Management (also known as MGM) was established to set up and manage three independent and dedicated North American companies for Hultdins, Olofsfors, and Rototilt.

Today, all three companies have dedicated facilities and organizations located in Brantford, Ontario.

“It has been an interesting journey to develop markets from nothing to the industry standard in North America for all the Swedish products we have worked with,” says Mallory. “It has also been very rewarding to establish three independent and very successful North American companies that I am sure will continue to grow.”

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

By Tony Kryzanowski Strongco upgrades Ontario branch with new building

Strongco has started construction on a new building at its Kitchener, Ontario branch with completion slated for the end of this summer.

The new facility is purpose-built to support sales, rentals, parts and service. It will have new and modern service bays along with a large parts warehouse in support of the Volvo Construction Equipment, Sennebogen and EcoLog Forestry products they distribute.

“This sends a strong message to our customers and the competition. It shows that Strongco is committed and ready to grow in the Tri-City area,” says Oliver Nachevski, Strongco president and CEO. The company has approximately 500 employees serving customers from 25 branches in Canada. www.strongco.com

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

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thelastword

B.C.’s Fort Nelson is hearing the sound of logging equipment, and chainsaws, again—but is it the right end use for the forest resource?

By Jim Stirling

T

he sounds of industrial scale logging are echoing through the aspen and spruce forests surrounding Fort Nelson for the first time in more than 13 years. The return to town of a traditional industry and a much-needed employer for the far northeastern corner of British Columbia is generally welcomed.

But there are concerns the investments behind the renewed harvesting represents another hit-and-run for the region, rather than the catalyst for redefining and diversifying a healthy green forest resource and managing it for long term regional prosperity.

It was in 2008 when forest company Canfor pulled up stakes, mothballed its holdings including older plywood and OSB plants which jointly supported about 600 jobs, and left Fort Nelson to its own economic devices.

But Canfor was permitted by intervening provincial governments to hold on to—without using—its enabling forest licences, the real value in its investment in town. That status quo remained until late in 2020, when Canfor transferred its forest licence to Peak Renewables.

Canfor followed that in 2021 by selling its Fort Nelson assets to the same privately-owned company. Peak Renewables announced its vision for Fort Nelson was to build an industrial wood pellet manufacturing plant. The production target of 600,000 tonnes annually for export to Asia would make it Canada’s largest wood pellet manufacturing plant.

The logging activity so far has been to stockpile the aspen furnish for the pellet plant and harvest the spruce sawlogs for sale. They are trucked south down the Alaska Highway to existing commodity lumber sawmills between Fort St. John and Prince George, a region where Canfor is a major player. The spruce logs have a ready market given the domestic log shortages and a surging U.S. lumber market.

During the last few years, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) based in Fort Nelson has spearheaded its Forestry Rejuvenation Project. Its goal was

to open the eyes of potential international investors to the region’s forest industry development potential, including its immense wood basket and available infrastructure. The NRRM went methodically about its business.

For example, in 2017 the first of two studies was launched to study the characteristics of the region’s neglected aspen resource. The FPInnovations investigation showed the quality and size of regional aspen was higher than that revealed in comparable western Canada aspen studies.

“Log quality analyses show that 97.5 per cent of the volume of trees harvested was sound wood,” reported FPInnovations.

The NRRM’s second aspen study initiated commercial trials of regional aspen for the manufacture of various wood products. The results were promising.

It showed NRRM aspen represented a solid market opportunity, especially in veneer-based industries like plywood and laminated veneer lumber.

“The challenge ahead,” the study predicted “will be to match the technical opportunities with the right business partners to develop long term sustainable business and economic activity in the northern Rockies regional area surrounding Fort Nelson.”

Aspen and other hardwoods frequently get a bad rap in the B.C. Interior. But it wasn’t too long ago when the lodgepole pine was similarly scorned by many in the B.C. forest industry. They just couldn’t see the small diameter wood species as a viable raw material for manufacturing quality commodity lumber products.

In the past, the B.C. Interior was spoiled by an abundance of accessible SPF forests. But large tracts of timber have been steadily annexed from the forest industry for a wide variety of other purposes. Then came years of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and B.C.’s worst forest fire seasons in 2017 and 2018.

Forests in the Fort Nelson area have been fortunate. Being comprised primarily of aspen and spruce, they escaped the

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Logging & Sawmilling Journal - May/June 2021

worst ravages of the pine beetle and were spared from wildfires. They also weren’t being logged after Canfor left, creating additional volumes of timber each year.

A provincial timber review increased the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) in the Fort Nelson Timber Supply Area to 2.6 million cubic metres/year, a massive increase of a million cubic metres from the 2006 review.

A question being posed about the new pellet plant is that with a limited supply of old logging residues to draw from, does high quality green aspen represent the best use of fibre in terms of jobs created and financial returns to B.C.?

There are additional factors entering the equation. Fort Nelson is now home to B.C.’s largest community forest. It’s owned by the Fort Nelson First Nation and the NRRM. It covers around 200,000 hectares with an AAC of up to 217,650 cubic metres. The community forest gives the Fort Nelson Indian Band an influential say in land management on some of its traditional territories, something it hasn’t had before. The band also now has an equity stake in Peak Renewables’ new pellet plant. Community forest wood represents lower cost fibre for Peak because of its relative proximity to the pellet plant.

The provincial government could have a say in how the Fort Nelson situation matures. “There is too little fibre and we need to do something about that,” Premier John Horgan told delegates during his keynote address to the B.C. Council of Forest Industries (COFI) virtual annual conference in April. Horgan said doing something could involve the redistribution of existing forest tenure in the province.

In early June, the B.C. government announced major proposed changes to forest policy—that would include a compensatory framework—to redistribute forest tenures to First Nations, forest communities and small operators.

While the government mulls its options and some aspen stands await conversion to wood pellets for export, the spruce leaves town for processing in southern sawmills.

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